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Sphaerodactylus Samanensis, Cochran, 1932) with Comments on Its Morphological Variation and Conservation Status

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Sphaerodactylus Samanensis, Cochran, 1932) with Comments on Its Morphological Variation and Conservation Status New distributional records of the Samana least gecko (Sphaerodactylus samanensis, Cochran, 1932) with comments on its morphological variation and conservation status Germán Chávez1,2, Miguel A. Landestoy T3, Gail S. Ross4 and Joaquín A. Ugarte-Núñez5 1 Instituto Peruano de Herpetología, Lima, Perú 2 División de Herpetología, CORBIDI, Lima, Perú 3 Escuela de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 4 Independent Researcher, Elko, NV, USA 5 Knight Piésold Consulting, Lima, Peru ABSTRACT We report here five new localities across the distribution of the lizard Sphaerodactylus samanensis, extending its current geographic range to the west, in the Cordillera Central of Hispaniola. We also report phenotypic variation in the color pattern and scutellation on throat and pelvic regions of males from both eastern and western populations, which is described below. Furthermore, based on these new data, we confirm that the species is not fitting in its current IUCN category, and in consequence propose updating its conservation status. Subjects Biodiversity, Biogeography, Conservation Biology, Ecology, Zoology Submitted 5 August 2020 Keywords New localities, Geographic range, Phenotypic variation, IUCN category, Conservation Accepted 31 October 2020 status Published 11 January 2021 Corresponding author Joaquín A. INTRODUCTION Ugarte-Núñez, Lizards of the genus Sphaerodactylus (107 recognized species, Uetz, Freed & Hosek, 2020), [email protected], [email protected] have diversified remarkably on Caribbean islands, and occur in Central and Northern Academic editor South America and in the Pacific Island of Cocos (Hass, 1991; Henderson & Powell, 2009; Richard Schuster Hedges et al., 2019; Hedges, 2020). This is a clade of small geckos (geckolet) containing also Additional Information and one of the smallest amniote vertebrates in the world with a maximum snout-vent length of Declarations can be found on 18 mm (Hedges & Thomas, 2001). Likewise, the largest species of this genus reaches up to a page 10 maximum of 39 mm (Barbour, 1914; Schwartz & Garrido, 1985; Fong & Diaz, 2004; Griffin DOI 10.7717/peerj.10404 et al., 2018). Copyright The diversity of these geckos is one of the most highest among the herpetofauna in the 2021 Chávez et al. Antilles (Scantlebury et al., 2011). Nonetheless, nearly 20% of the species are known only Distributed under for the type locality (Meiri et al., 2017) and several others for a small number of localities Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (Hedges, 1996; Powell & Inchaustegui, 2009; Schwartz, 1970; Schwartz & Henderson, 1991). OPEN ACCESS Among them, Sphaerodactylus samanensis is a species previously reported at a few places How to cite this article Chávez G, Landestoy TMA, Ross GS, garte-Núñez JA. 2021. New distributional records of the Samana least gecko (Sphaerodactylus samanensis, Cochran, 1932) with comments on its morphological variation and conservation status. PeerJ 9:e10404 http://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10404 near to the type locality, along the southern side of the Samana Bay, Dominican Republic with an elevation range from 0 to 181 m.a.s.l. (Schwartz & Henderson, 1991; Thomas & Hedges, 1993; Landestoy, Incháustegui & Hedges, 2016). Because its restricted distribution range and small extent of occurrence (100 km2), S. samanensis is currently classified as a Critically Endangered species by both the IUCN Red List (2020), and the Dominican Republic's Red List of threatened species (Ministerio del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales de la República Dominicana, 2019). According to the records, this species inhabits the northeastern edge of the island (Fig. 1) alongside Cordillera Oriental, a low mountain chain with Miocene Karst terrain (Bowin, 1966; Bowin, 1975). The recent discovery of an individual of Sphaerodactylus samanensis in the surroundings of Pueblo Viejo Mine (PVM) by one of the authors (JU) encouraged us to perform new field surveys which resulted in the collection of this species at five new localities in central and eastern Dominican Republic. Our findings indicate that this species has a wider distribution than previously known, a finding relevant to its conservation status. Methods Study area We conducted fieldwork at six sites (Fig. 1): (1) Caño Hondo (Los Haitises National Park), at the surroundings of the type locality and inside of its distribution range (Landestoy, Incháustegui & Hedges, 2016), (2) Cueva Casa Grande (western edge of the aforementioned park), and (3) Batey Piedra, all of them on the eastern edge of the Dominican Republic; and (4) Chacuey Abajo, (5) Cueva de Sanabe (inside Aniana Vargas National Park), and (6) Pueblo Viejo Mine (PVM), these last three on the Cordillera Central to the west. Eastern sites are placed on the northern slopes of the Cordillera Oriental, in the Ombrophile Rainforest (Hager & Zanoni, 1993), which is adjacent to the Samana Bay and goes along the Yuna River basin. The habitat here is a secondary forest, where trees, mainly Anthoxylum spp, Cecropia spp, Chrysophyllum spp, Dendropanax spp, and Guarea spp, reach up to 30 m in height. Also, some climber plants of the genus Aristolochia spp, Cissus spp, Entada spp, and Macdafayenia spp, and members of Orchidaceae and Poaceae family are present. The ground is densely covered by wet leaf litter and organic material, as well as scattered karst-rock clusters. Sites on the Cordillera Central were located on the easternmost border of the mountain ridge where streams flow down to the Yuna River and eventually reach the Atlantic Ocean. The landscape mainly features farms and small patches of tropical secondary rainforest with trees of the genus Anthoxylum spp and Cecropia spp reaching 35 m in height. The ground is covered partially in wet leaf litter and organic material, as well as karst-rock clustered areas. The highest altitude reached in our study is 257 m.a.s.l. in the Central Cordillera, with the lowest spot at sea level along the Samana Bay. Fieldwork We carried out three field trips under permission number 004080 issued by the Dominican Republic's Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales - MIMARENA). Specimens were collected between August 2018 and May 2019 during diurnal surveys. We took coordinates with a personal navigator (Garmin Map 64s) and described habitat characteristics at each collection site. Every collected Chávez et al. (2021), PeerJ, DOI 10.7717/peerj.10404 2/13 Figure 1 Map showing the distribution of Sphaerodactylus samanensis. Type locality is indicated by a red star. Localities with previous records are in yellow circles (taken from Thomas & Hedges, 1993; and Landestoy, Incháustegui & Hedges, 2016) and new collecting sites are in white circles. Full-size DOI: 10.7717/peerj.10404/fig-1 specimen was photographed, measured, fixed with 95% ethanol and then stored in 70% ethanol. All the specimens were deposited in the herpetology collection of the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural Profesor Eugenio de Jesús Marcano (MNHNSD) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Morphological revision We euthanized the specimens in the field with Lidocaine 10%, fixed with 95% ethanol and then stored in 70% ethanol. We used a digital calliper to measure snout-vent length (SVL) of individuals to the nearest tenth of a millimeter. Our scale counts follow Thomas & Schwartz (1966) and Thomas, Hedges & Garrido (1992) and consists in: (1) escutcheon patch length, we considered the maximum number of scales (anterior to posterior); (2) escutcheon width, we considered the maximum number of scales transversally across the patch (including extensions onto thighs); and (3) escutcheon total scales, we considered all scales on the pelvic scutcheon. In order to support our observations, we added two more scale counts: (1) number of gular scales in contact with the first infralabial, here we considered all adjacent scales (including postmentals) to the first infralabial scale; and (2) number of scales per dorsal band, we considered the maximum number of pigmented scale rows covered by a dorsal band in a longitudinal count. Specimens were sexed by examining the sexually dimorphic color pattern and the gonads to confirm the presence of Chávez et al. (2021), PeerJ, DOI 10.7717/peerj.10404 3/13 hemipenes. We used photographs taken in the field by ML to describe the coloration in life of the specimens. Also, we followed Köhler (2012) to name the colors in our description. In addition, we follow taxonomy established by Poe (2013) which unlike (Köhler et al., 2019), regards Anolis as a valid genus for Dactyloid lizards from Hispaniola. Data analysis We estimated the occurrence of this species based on our field measurements of the extension of Karst (where we observed Sphaerodactylus samanensis), additionally supported by the estimation of the area of Karst in contact with them, through the data previously reported by Servicio Geológico Nacional (2010). Geographic data and map designing were drawn in ArcGIS version 10.3. Additionally, we follow IUCN (2001) defining: (1) Extent of occurrence (EOO) and (2) Area of occupancy (AOO). RESULTS We observed this species mostly under Karst rocks and out of the surroundings of the type locality for the first time (specimens collected per locality are detailed in Table 1). Subsequently, we are confirming its occurrence in the Cordillera Central and adding five localities to its currently known occurrence (Fig. 1). This extends its geographic range by 82.2 km to the northwest. All individuals
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